Publishing rights

What we ask for

First serial rights, print and Kindle

You let us be the first to publish your piece anywhere in the world. The work should not have appeared in another magazine, on a personal blog, in a paid newsletter, or on a public social account before our issue ships.

Six months of exclusivity

For six months from the issue release date, please do not republish the piece anywhere else. After that you can reprint it freely. We just ask that you note "First appeared in Crooked Spine Press, Issue X" wherever it lands next.

Non-exclusive archive rights

After the exclusivity period, we keep the right to keep your piece in print and on Kindle as part of the back catalogue. Old issues stay on sale.

Non-exclusive promotional use

We may quote up to 250 words of your piece for marketing purposes, including social posts, press kits, and sample previews on this site. You always get credit.

What stays yours

Copyright

The piece belongs to you. We are licensing it for the issue, not buying it.

Every other right

Audio adaptations, film and TV options, foreign-language translations, podcast readings, anthology reprints elsewhere. All yours. We do not take a cut and we do not ask for permission.

Live readings

Read your piece at events, podcasts, or anywhere else you want. No permission needed.

Pay

Rates are listed in each open call. We pay on acceptance, not on publication. Contributor copies (one print, one Kindle) come standard.

Withdrawals

If your piece is accepted somewhere else while we are still reading, please email us with the title and we will pull it from the queue. In reverse, when we accept, we will let you know within the response window listed in the call.

Originality

We need original work that you wrote yourself. No reprints, no work-for-hire, no ghostwriting where the credited author is not the person who wrote the prose. If we discover otherwise after acceptance, we will cancel the contract and ask for the payment back.